Doctor Doctor
by Grace of Kane
Summary: Daisuke and Ken are living a good life, some have called it perfect. But how will a life-threatening illness affect their lives and everyone else's? More importantly, will Jyou and co diagnose it in time? Heavily House M.D. inspired. Ch 3 up!
1. Prologue

Hi Guys! S-S here, long time no see :) After having a writing block for a while, I bring you a shiny new multi-chaptered Daiken for your entertainment. It is heavily inspired my House M.D. and will have many of the show's recurring themes intertwined with the personal lives of the patient and everyone around him. It is not a crossover and the head doctor is not an allegory for Dr House, it is simply of a similar format, trying to solve a perplexing illness. Just for clarification, second generation characters are around 26.

Chapter release is most definitely not planned (I'm not that organised) so I'm sorry if chapters are released at odd intervals.

Anywho, I digress. Sit back, relax and observe usual disclaimers (characters, canonic plot etc. are not mine)

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_Daisuke's POV_

I snapped my eyes open and shot up. I quickly regretted this, as my stomach bubbled in annoyance at the sudden change in altitude. I had been threatening to vomit for days now, what with a constant fever and headache, though why my body decided the middle of the night would be the best time to do so was beyond me. Begrudgingly, I swung my legs over the side of my bed and put my hand on the mattress behind me, checking for any other presence. No Ken. Thank goodness he wasn't here; I had been really worrying my boyfriend recently with this cold. Same old Ken – a hypochondriac for everyone but himself.

We had a flat together not far from my parents' house – our 'love nest' as our friends called it teasingly. However it was currently being fumigated for roaches so we couldn't be there. This had its advantages however. Since we weren't in it, we didn't have to pay rent as the fumigation was ordered by the landlord. This meant that being off work due to illness meant the financial impact of not getting paid was not as bad. I worked as a video game designer, supporting Ken while he was in university studying for his doctorate in palaeontology. I'd like to say that this was a rather chivalrous thing of me to do, however I kind of always wanted to design video games, so it was just handy that I was the earner so I could keep up the rent.

I stumbled out of bed as another wave of nausea swept over me. Crashing out of the door with very little grace, I made my way down the hall, every step pounding through my body and rattling my pain riddled head. I passed Jun's room, which was occupied as she had recently come back from her backpacking tour of Europe. Reaching the toilet door I found the knob and swung it open. Breathing in deep breaths trying to ward off the inevitable retching, I reached for the pull cord for the light.

"Fuck!" I grimaced. Spilling throughout the room, the light permeated my senses sending a searing bolt of pain from the front to the back of my head. Taking a few moments to readjust, I made my way over the medicine cabinet and practically yanked the doors off. I clumsily dragged a bottle of aspirin and a glass out of the cabinet and thrust the glass under the tap. However, no sooner had the glass become full when my mouth started to salivate dangerously – a sure-fire sign that I was gonna vomit. This was the point of no return.

"Aw hell," I moaned as I dragged myself over to the toilet basin, head raging in protest. The bubbles rose up my oesophagus, screaming to get out; I begrudgingly obliged. With a horrible retching sound, the vomit made an equally more disgusting slapping sound against the toilet water. It took five retches to clear my stomach, and five more to convince my ignorant body of this. I reached blindly for the toilet roll to wipe my mouth and then closed the lid of the toilet to save the horrible sight that lay within. Slumping down on the seat, I made a face at the horrible taste now staining my mouth, the searing pain now residing in my throat and the horrible texture my teeth now had as they rubbed against each other. What was worse, the headache had not receded. In fact it had increased threefold in intensity.

Remembering the aspirin and the water, I moaned again as I heaved my useless lump of a body over to the basin. Fumbling with the bottle and the glass proved to be an infuriating task in such a disoriented state but I managed to swallow two, which luckily my stomach decided not to reject. Wishing to be relieved of the aforementioned oral displeasures, I downed the rest of the water in earnest. Also realising how hot I was (another thing that seemed not to have attenuated), I filled the sink with cold water, and plunged my head directly into it.

After a lifetime, I pulled my head out, drained the water and leant with both hands on the basin. With gasping breaths, I gathered up strength for the marathon back to my bedroom. Regardless of what I had thought before, a selfish thought crossed my mind. I really wanted Ken here. He'd be fussing and comforting and hugging, never caring whether he'd get sick too. I was half tempted to go and phone him, drag him out of his bed at _his_ parents' house and pull him all the way back to Odaiba.

No. I couldn't. That would be terribly self-centred. Even though I hadn't been to University like Ken, I wasn't so ignorant as to not understand the massive importance of these final exams. I remember his other exams before his doctorate. They were important, yet they didn't even come close to these finals. It had been like 2 years ago, when both Takeru and Hikari had had their medicine finals and both qualified as doctors working for Jyou at Odaiba Central Hospital – they had started revising for their exams very early, in fact I don't think they came out of their flat for three months beforehand! Ken had been exactly the same, if not earlier. It was only this illness that broke his strict regime of revision.

I suddenly hoped, with a pang of guilt, that over the past few days I had not cost Ken those last few crucial days of preparation. Stupid bloody wonderful Ken, willing to sacrifice hours of crucial study just for little old me. Then again I'd do the same; that is if I ever studied! We were in fact pretty serious, as serious as a heart attack in fact. Not only did we live together but we had been boyfriends for over ten years, love as strong as ever and both extremely happy with our lives (well, except for this damn bug!). I suppose the best thing I could do for him right now was rest up and get better.

So, leaving the bathroom in nowhere near the state I found it, I lugged my weight down the long hallway and back to my bedroom, flicking the light on and slumping down on my bed with my head in my hands.

"Arghh!" I grunted angrily, kneading my eyeballs. Even after coming back to bed, my headache still wasn't going anywhere. Maybe it was time for a heavier painkiller, maybe some codeine, after all, desperate times. So, I stood up, and everything went black.

_Jun's POV_

I sighed and looked at the bright LED clock next to my bed: 03:14. After a long and wild night partying in London, I had slept on the plane. Getting off I had felt refreshed, only to register that it was late evening and everyone was winding down. To me it felt like it should be 3.14pm rather than am. I growled in annoyance deciding to give up the ghost and go watch some TV.

Padding over to the door, I quietly opened it and snuck out. The amount of diet cokes I had on the plane seemed to have decided to catch up with me, so I made a quick detour to the bathroom. I paused abruptly as I noticed the light was on but the door was ajar. Brow furrowed, I concentrated on any slight sounds coming from the bathroom. I heard nothing, so I pushed the door open cautiously.

The first thing to hit me was the rancid smell. I screwed up my nose in disgust and made my way over to the toilet.

"Oh yuck!" I exclaimed, dropping the toilet lid as fast as I lifted it. Poor Daisuke, I'd normally just call him a drama queen in the situations where he'd take to his bed for days, demanding to be waited on hand and foot. He wasn't a kid anymore however (though the childish glint in his eye had not diminished) and this illness seemed rather genuine. I flushed the toilet and thoroughly wiped over the seats before taking to the seat myself.

Noting the glass and aspirin on the side, I guessed Dai was having trouble sleeping too. I decided a night spent awake was best not spent alone. After flushing the toilet again and washing my hands, I put the stuff around the basin away and made my way out of the bathroom, turning off the light.

I turned towards Dai's room and noticed that the door was also ajar with light spilling out of it. I smiled and made my way down the hall. Reaching the door however, my smile faded. Odd sounds were coming from inside – light banging and thumping. Was Ken round? Surely even if my dopey brother was thick enough to be this obvious about sex, Ken wasn't, right? Suddenly slightly unsure and foreboding, I knocked lightly a few times and the door swung open ominously from the force of my knocks.

Suddenly, a wave of terror crashed over me. The sight before me was scary, horrifying even. I had never before felt so helpless. Daisuke was on the floor, his limbs wildly thrashing at odd angles, his whole body convulsing in a weird marionette-like fashion. His eyes were white slabs, his pupils rolled back into his head and his other facial attributes seemed as if they didn't quite know what to do. Silently vowing not to be as indecisive, I did the only logical thing I could think of:

"HELP! MUM, DAD PLEASE HELP!"

Without missing a beat, my parents had crashed down the hall and burst into the room within seconds. My mum gave a slight scream at the sight of her son having a severe seizure at her feet. She quickly rushed to his side and tried to steady him as my dad rushed for the phone and dialled 119 in a blind panic. I knelt down next to mum and tried to help her keep Dai still, with little success, as dad chattered away in the background.

"THE AMBULANCE IS ON THE WAY!" Dad's voice thundered through the apartment.

I turned to mum, looking at her with a worried expression, "So much for a stomach bug."

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Thanks for reading! Now if you could click the review button I would be a very happy bunny :D It may even make me review faster! Also any guesses on what illness he has would amuse me, kudos if you get it right too :)

S-S


	2. Highest Priority

Two weeks later, here is the next instalment! This was originally completely different but once I was nearly finished and ready for publishing 1 week ago, I got angry with myself and deleted over half of it on re-reading. Hopefully the wait is worth my little tantrum

I realise I have been rather lax with using honorifics at the end of names (i.e. I haven't bothered with them at all) and that is unlikely to change in this story, but hopefully it will in future stories.

So without further ado, lights, camera, disclaimers...action!

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_Jyou's POV_

Humph. Saturday night, and I was stuck on the night shift. 31 years old, top of my class, and the most distinguished diagnostician in Asia. I was paid well, given a good office and yet in all my years of medicine one thing has not changed. I still worked appalling hours.

How on earth was I supposed to be at the top of my game and using my many splendored talents if I was stuck in a darkened office with my only sustenance being mounds of instant coffee? I stretched and yawned widely, my eyes drooping in defiance of the stacks of paperwork laid out in front of me. No, as a specialist hospital, at least one senior doctor had to be on the premises at all times and it was my lucky night.

Grumbling, I picked up one of the many discarded mugs on my desk. I took a moment to run a finger over the wood of the desk – ebony wood, like most of the highly furnished office. I smiled widely. Although the hours often felt intolerable, the work tiresome; the luxury was nonpareil. Not that I was uppity about it. No in fact I had been known to help many a friend out in their hour of need; I wasn't tight with my money. I could never be arrogant, I didn't have it in me, but I was not above grinning at my own success from time to time.

That grin was soon lost in another yawn. Remembering the coffee cup in my hand, I strolled over to the kettle and flicked the switch, as if working purely on clockwork. Blindly, I grabbed a spoon and the jar of instant coffee, applying a liberal scoop to the bottom of my mug and topping it off with boiling water, triumphantly removing the kettle from its holder, not giving it a chance to complete its bubbly fanfare. The boiling sounds died away in disappointment as the dark granules were dissolved in the steaming liquid.

Development of a practically asbestos mouth seemed to be part of the profession, considering the number of cups of coffee I guzzled down in a day, for the burning hot beverage didn't even faze me as it hit my lips and attempted to sear my throat. No sooner had the mug left my lips however than my pager beeped enthusiastically at my hip. In an almost unconscious manner, I tipped my head down and pointed the pager upwards. I read the words that scrolled across the screen, as shock coursed through my system.

Not hesitating, I slammed down the mug and bolted out my office door, shaking the blistering liquid from my hand as I sped towards the elevator. On reaching the metal doorway, I mashed the control panel with my burning hand, impatience and anxiety fuelling the localised anaesthesia in my extremities. I dashed inside the empty box and jabbed at the ground floor button with fervour, angrily noting how long it took elevator doors to shut.

I ground to a halt, resting against the back wall and pinching the bridge of my nose. I needed to breathe. My head was buzzing, a whir of emotions. Feeling came flowing back to my hands and I grimaced at the pain the coffee had caused. Never had I expected I would have to deal with one of our own in such a critical condition. I mean sure the odd few came to me with the occasional medical query but this. Phew, this was something else. I had to be at the top of my game, no excuses. This was my highest priority. Daisuke had had a seizure, a 26 year old with no medical history to speak of. There were a million different reasons as to why that wasn't good.

A short ding from the elevator told me the doors had opened already. I snapped my eyes equally as open and darted around a group of bewildered patients and their visitors, aiming to complete the last leg of the race in record time.

"Talk to me!" I demanded, white lab coat flowing behind me as I flew down the corridor towards the approaching stretcher, family and paramedics. And there I saw him. His limp, unconscious figure was unusually unnerving, making me hesitate slightly with a shiver down my spine. A thick atmosphere had been cast on the area, clouding clear thought. My emotions were vying for a complete takeover of my body and perhaps they would have won if not for the approaching paramedic snapping me out of my reverie:

"26 year old male slipping in and out of consciousness after a tonic-clonic seizure, symptoms range from three days previous: headache, nausea, vomiting and fever. Pulse is steady but pupils are sluggish." I fell in toe with the stretcher as we burst through the door of the emergency room, carving a path through the patients and nurses as my brain went a mile a minute thinking of several different ideas. I pointed to the nearest available private room.

"Set him up in there. Nurse, get a cooling blanket and monitor the patient closely. Start an IV fluids wide open!" I stopped and pulled Jun back by the arm, looking her in the eye, "Has he said anything?"

"Just one thing," she replied, flustered, "don't tell Ken."

_Ken's POV – a few hours later_

Tick  
Tock  
Scribble  
Scratch  
Tick  
Tock  
Tap tap tap

'Ugh,' I grumbled to myself. Why was it that in one of the most important moments of my life, the most mundane of noises became annoying to no end? I sat silently, opposite my professor, trying my best to focus on the conclusion of my essay without being distracted by any external noise. I was so near the end, I just needed a few more lines, but they had to be perfect.

I looked up and saw the ornate clock happily chirping away in the corner. 9:50 – 10 minutes left, there was plenty of time. I would always have opted for the earlier time for my exams and since I could choose the exact time this time, I chose 7am because the earlier I worked, the better I tended to be. My eyes wandered across the shelves of books that lay before me – hundreds, even thousands of pieces of literature full to the brim with palaeontological and palaeoecological studies just begging to be opened, to be read. Why oh why was I made to do the exam here of all places when I knew all the help I needed was in black and white all around me.

Well, that was of course not entirely true. To get a doctorate you needed to do a dissertation – a sort of research project of your own of something completely new in the field. I had been studying palaeontological relationships between the different species of the Triassic period of life. In front of me was a paper filled with essay questions on said dissertation, its relation to other aspects of science and its impact on modern science. I think it's riveting anyway. What was I doing? Oh yes! The exam!

I picked up my pen again and concluded my essay on my research's impact on modern theories of biology. I had developed several new theories on ecology and animal behaviour – yeah, I suppose that would be a good conclusion. I sighed as I replaced the pen, picked up my answers and slumped down further in my seat. I looked over my answers with glazed eyes. They were bound to be right; I was Ichijouji Ken after all.

That's what Daisuke would say anyway. I smiled a little, but that soon turned into a furrowed brow at the thought of him. I had turned on my mobile that morning expecting to see the flashing texts icon. In fact, my phone was blank, no messages at all. Not one of the digidestined had sent me a good luck text. At first I was angry, then a little sad upon relating it to my post-Kaiser days whereupon I had no friends, or at least I thought I didn't. However the digidestined had changed all that at the time. So why no texts? Not even from Dai!

I grumbled, running through the people in my head. Takeru and Hikari had a day off and a lie in, so I expected a text from them when I got out. Miyako and Iori always go for a jog together at 6am so they should have texted me. Taichi had no chance of getting up early but Koushiro was always up prompt for his computer programming on a Friday morning so he would have texted for them both. Sora, Yamato and Mimi could be excused for being in a different country of course, but Jyou was working through the night – he had no excuse whatsoever. Then there was Dai, why on earth would my own boyfriend not have texted me?

At this point the sadness had turned into confusion and a little bit of worry. I sat there churning the worst case scenarios through my head (as I usually did in these situations) and imagined one of my friends dead or dying. Nothing else would make Dai forget to text me. However he had been ill recently so perhaps he was just tired and it was too late to text me when he got up. Yeah, that'd be it.

So why had no-one else text me?

I sighed again at that darker voice in my head, always assuming the worst yet always pointing out the obvious. It had been that voice that taunted me, mocked me and aggrieved me – the voice that was so harsh, so true – The Kaiser's voice. It was the voice that Daisuke had beaten away, that he blocked out. I smiled knowingly as I remembered the days before we professed our feelings to each other. Whenever I got near him, the voice became muffled and unintelligible, but it still found a way of poking through now and then. However, he made me feel that that was the exact part of me that I didn't want to listen to anymore. Daisuke helped me, healed me...loved me.

I remember the day with such crisp detail I could have mistaken it for yesterday. It was quite a while after the defeat of Belailvamdemon, about 3 years actually. Our feelings had long been growing, but due to his stubbornness and my shyness, neither had the guts to make the first move. However, if there were bets on at the time as to who would be the boldest, whoever held the remarkably good odds that it would be Daisuke would have won.

I remember the flurry of emotions I had held that day at his house, in his bedroom, his scent surrounding me, guarding me from the voice. I had felt awkwardness, sadness, hope, shyness and anxiety as he sat in front of me and talked with a shaky voice, with those being quickly replaced by joy, happiness, excitement, lust, love and the tiniest dash of fear as we admitted, hugged, kissed, talked some more, kissed again, touched and...er...ahem...yes...

I jumped with shock as my professor signalled the end of the exam by slamming his large hardback book on the table with brute force. He stood up and I held my paper out to him, dazed as I tried to remove myself from the misty reverie I had stuck myself in. As my memories had taken me down the more lust filled road of our relationship, I had become unaware that the ten minutes previous had quickly elapsed. I stood up clumsily and bowed in the general direction my professor.

"Arigatou Senpai," I said respectfully as I hastily made for the door. On crossing the threshold, I leaped and grabbed my bag from under the nearby chair, scrambling through it for my phone. My heart sank however as I saw the phone had received no texts since the exam had started. I grumpily threw the bag on my shoulder and began to trudge out of the college with an obvious foul mood accentuated in each stride. And to think, I was worried I'd end up feeling crap coming out of the exam because of poor performance, not because of inconsiderate friends and boyfriend!

I was now more confused than ever as I exited the college, descending the grand steps leading to the road and my car. It just didn't make sense. If there was anyone who cared about my life more than Daisuke, I'd not yet met them. The anger started back up again, egged on by the voice now crawling its way out of my subconscious. How could everyone be so inconsiderate? I mean, didn't they care?

I growled, thrusting my hand into my pocket and grabbing for my mobile. Bringing it into view, I began punching Daisuke's number into the keypad. I was so absorbed that I only just stopped myself short from bumping into the person in front of me. It was my mum. Stunned, I lowered the phone and bowed to her.

"Mum, what are you doing here?"

"I need to tell you something," she replied. Her face was severe yet rather sad. I couldn't help but let the beast inside me rise up again. Not even she cared about the most important exam of my life! I'm not normally a self-centred person but I think under those circumstances my attitude could be excused. 'What could possibly be more important than _me_ right now?' I thought, rather vexed.

For the next minute, she opened and closed her mouth like a fish. I couldn't hear any sound whatsoever. For after the first few seconds, my mind didn't register the words that she was saying. I couldn't believe it, I wouldn't...I didn't. It was like I had been thrust to the end of a long and empty corridor and the rest of the world was only a speck of light at the other end. I had gone numb, my face showing no emotion. Sound was noise and light was haze. Nothing was registering with me at all, as if I was weightless and in a vacuum. Shouldn't I have been dead if that was the case? I may as well have been to be honest, I certainly felt like I should be, like I wanted to be.

There was a reason why I absolutely abhorred self-centredness and this was why. How could I have been so selfish, so awful? How dare I doubt Daisuke? How dare I think he wouldn't care? Over ten years in a relationship with that brilliant, wonderful, amazing man and I assume the absolute worst. I'm disgusting. My poor little Daisuke gravely ill, lying in a hospital bed and all that I could think about was my bloody stupid test and how no-one cared about the whiney, skinny little boy everyone calls Ken. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what right I had to even _have_ a test right at the moment that Daisuke had a seizure. He was ill, the signs were there! I should have just postponed the test; I'd have found a way.

A lifetime later, I was pulled out of the corridor and snapped back into reality by my mother part shaking me, part dragging me towards her car. The quick refocus into the real world induced a similar refocus into real emotions, and boy did the barricade come crashing down. An unintelligible noise escaped my mouth followed by a short gasp. Shock brought me to a standstill as I stood there in disbelief. My mother turned around with tears in her eyes as she begged me to follow. I quickly emulated her as tears started to form in the corners of my eyes. Grief, sadness and guilt all came crashing down me at once as I started up again, striding past mother towards her car.

As we got in, I sat there still numb as ever, barely feeling the vibrations as the car started up. I felt anger and jealousy towards the people walking past. How could they not be feeling what I was feeling right now? Motimiya Daisuke was lying unconscious in a hospital bed and no-one cared. A few minutes ago I didn't care either, I didn't even know and I was his partner – as I said, disgusting.

I sniffled slightly in my seat as my mother looked at me with wet eyes. And to think, that exam had been my top priority for weeks – selfish bastard. We pulled away from the sidewalk, beginning the longest and most agonising journey of my life.

'I'm coming, my love.'

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Another chapter done! Reviews of all types are, while not expected, much appreciated.

S-S


	3. Alone

I'm back everyone! And I've returned with a shiny new chapter to whet your appetites for a while. I feel I should address my absence first. I know I said there may be odd gaps between chapters but a month is a little ridiculous, even by my own personal standards. I do apologise as I was engrossed in preparing for my Natural Sciences interview at Cambridge University and it would have been rather complacent of me if I had spent my entire time writing fan fiction instead (though I was sorely tempted - I resisted). Incidentally, Cambridge went...ahem...er...let's just say that I hope there is some sort of cosmic balance scale out there...my first interview was rather dismal while my second was fantastic - however, it is in the laps of the Digimon Sovereigns now.

However, enough ranting (there will be more at the bottom), on with it!

_

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Ken's POV_

I slammed the front doors of the hospital open which banged off the walls and drew the attention of everyone in the foyer. I didn't care. I had gotten over denial and grief. Anger shone through like a bitch.

'How could I go through hours of not knowing? Everyone else is either here or on their way.' I stormed through mists of confused faces, many irritated as I dismissed the usual apologetic bows on carving my way through the masses. 'Did they not think I deserved to know? I'm his fucking _lover_! I could have been here hours ago and he surely must have needed me?' Imagining Daisuke's weak cries for me was enough to bring a sting to my eyes, but I ploughed on nonetheless. 'And of all the people who finally told me, it was my fucking mother? ARGH!'

My inward frustrated scream managed to make it to my vocal cords as I stopped. I had reached a dead end. My thought path had served only to incite a greater rage within me rather than actually fuel me to reach my goal. I was confused. I was disoriented. I was lost, perplexed and...still angry. I growled as I turned on my heel, storming past my mother whose look of sympathy and sadness I did not care about acknowledging at the time. I vaguely noted that the sign for the A&E department pointing to the right; like a lamb I followed.

My journey happened in stages, both on the way over to the hospital and through the corridors themselves. Negative emotions clouded my memories. I only vaguely remember snapshots of each journey – metaphorical scrapbooks of the worst travelling of my life. Take the rest of the journey for instance. I remember smashing through the doors of the emergency department, mother at my heels. I remember seeing Iori, grabbing him by the arm, forcing him to tell me where my Dai was. I remember Iori's face: a mixture of pity, sadness and understanding. I remember wanting to hit him, to hit someone. I remember punching the lift buttons in a blind fury. I remember feeling like the Kaiser, just with so much more depth and emotion – a Kaiser mark 2.

Then I ground to a halt at the door of the MRI room, my hand inches from the handle. This was it. He was going to be in there, so weak, so helpless...so Daisuke-less. Recollecting myself, I forced the door open. Takeru and Hikari, both wearing white lab coats, jumped at my loud entrance. They both rushed towards me, pushing me out of the room. I only got a small glimpse of Daisuke on the retracted panel of the MRI before I was pushed behind the door. At least he was still here, still earthbound.

"What the hell Ken?" Takeru said, more pitifully than forcefully, arms outstretched in a questioning pose, "The magnet could have been on! You would have been screwed!

That was it, my anger boiled over, "8 HOURS SINCE HE'S HAD THE SEIZURE AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS WHAT THE _HELL_! DID NO-ONE EVEN _THINK_ TO CALL ME? All the time they tried to get words across but I wouldn't listen, I couldn't, I needed this – blissful irrationality. "I WAS IN THAT EXAM ROOM FOR _THREE HOURS_ KILLING MYSELF OVER HOW NO-ONE CARED ABOUT ME ON MY EXAM DAY. THE GUILT I FELT IN THE CAR JOURNEY OVER HERE WAS _IMMEASURABLE_ AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU TWO ALONG WITH JYOU ARE HIS DOCTORS AND I'M PRACTICALLY HIS NEXT OF KIN! YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!

I said the last part with a snarl. They were no longer trying to interrupt, just looking at me with a sort of defeated come sorrowful demeanour. I looked at them both expectantly, breathing heavily.

"_Well?"_ They still remained silent. They just stared at me, matching their breathing with my own. My train of thought stopped and sadness began to overwhelm my anger, the latter ebbing as the other flowed. Their faces were slowly softening my resolve.

"We're sorry Ken," Hikari muttered in her softest voice, "We wanted to call you, we really did."

"He's been slipping in and out of consciousness," Takeru interjected, "and we've only been able to get one thing out of him." I looked up hopefully, meeting Hikari's steadfast gaze, bolstering me for what she said next:

"Don't tell Ken."

Oh...oh my. I couldn't control it anymore. Tears gathered and fell like a waterfall, shrouding both vision and thoughts. In his hour of need, he cared more about me than about himself. He cared more about me passing a stupid little test than about his own health. It was that, the act of putting everyone else before himself that made him so wonderfully amazing. Imagine if that was taken from this world, from me. Oh God, I would rather die a thousand times than experience that grief. My hands covered my face as every bad emotion I had ever felt came at me in droves. The sadness, grief and sorrow overwhelmed me as Takeru pulled me into an embrace. I made his shoulder soggy with saline and mucous, but he didn't care, and quite frankly, neither did I.

"It's all my fault Keru," I whimpered, "I was so wrapped up in my exam I forgot about him. I forgot about my Dai. How the hell could I do that? What if I lose him? I swear I'll go with him if I do. I mean it. If he dies, I die – metaphorically and literally. I love him. I love him so much. Please save him Keru, you, Jyou and Hikari, save him please." Takeru didn't respond. In retrospect, how could he have? I ranted for what seemed like hours, nonsensical drivel about my love for Dai and how much I didn't want to lose him. All the time Takeru just rubbed my back and hugged me tighter, whispering the occasional, 'I know,' and, 'don't be silly.'

When I finally let go I looked at Takeru, wiping my streaming nose on my sleeve. His pitiful expression had changed to a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry," I uttered, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't be," he said empathetically, "Do you wanna come in and watch the MRI? Hikari and I will get you up to speed."

I suddenly filled with need, "YES, I want to see him."

"Ok," Takeru held out his hands, "give me anything metal you have."

Searching around I found my phone, iPod and, reluctantly, my belt. I began to pass these to Takeru but jumped when a voice startled me from behind.

"It's ok Ken dear, I'll take them." Oh God, my mother, she'd been there the whole time. Of course she had Ken you idiot, where else would she have been? I turned around sheepishly, objects outstretched, not meeting her gaze. Before she took the objects, she brushed the hair that I had never shortened in length to this day (that was how Daisuke liked it) out of my wet face and cupped my cheek. Giving a small choked cry, she swept me into her embrace as a whole new wave of sadness crashed over me. Needless to say it was a few more minutes before she let go of me, put my things in her bag and took off towards the cafe to meet Daisuke's family who were recuperating with strong coffee. I watched her walk away from me with sad eyes. She had taken a fair amount of shit from me this morning. I'd let her know I was sorry later; right now however, there was only one person I wanted to see.

"Come on Ken," said Takeru, making me jump yet again today, "let's go join Kari in the exam room." At some point, presumably during the extended hug Takeru and I had shared, Kari had gone in to the MRI room and started Daisuke up in the machine. As I entered the room an extra glass booth was set up to monitor Daisuke. Hikari was sat at the desk, eyes glued to the monitor. She had barely flinched as Takeru and I had entered. Both she and Takeru took their jobs very seriously. It was two years since Jyou had employed the two of them, creating a diagnostics team that was not only known nationally, but continentally and even across the world. A 99% success rate wasn't too shabby and if there was anyone I wanted on Dai's case, it was these three - just as long as Daisuke wasn't one of that 1%.

Sitting down next to Hikari, I could see Daisuke on the camera that was fitted to the inside of the MRI to monitor the patient. I was speechless. There was my Daisuke – so weak and helpless. Even when he slept he kept his normal exuberance and extroversion. Now he was just laying there, eyes closed. He was lost – so shell-less and vulnerable. I wanted to go and sit with him, hold his hand, hug him and tell him everything was going to be alright, even though the worst thoughts were swirling their way through my mind. However, I couldn't move. Takeru had taken over looking at the scans and Hikari was clasping my hands with as much force as she could muster, sorrow filling her eyes that were trained steadfast on my own. Nonetheless, she conjured a smile out of nowhere.

"He's going to be ok," she liberally applied these words to my mentality, "We think that it's a febrile seizure – one caused by severe fever. The lack of consciousness and delirium is doubtlessly due to the high fever mixed with the seizure." Hikari could see I was sceptical and Takeru's grimace of doubt did little to allay my fears.

"What?" I snapped at Takeru, making him jump for once this morning. He looked to Hikari sheepishly and then to me with steady resolve.

"Febrile seizures are uncommon in patients over 5 years old," Takeru explained, clearly wary of his wife's scowl and indeed my look of grave concern, "but not unlikely of course!"

"So it's most likely the fever, yes?" I asked hopefully, "He's gonna be ok?"

Hikari nodded, I sighed in relief and dropped my head into my hands, rubbing my eyes. For the first time I registered how drained I actually was. The exam had taken more out of me that I had first thought, though the ability of your lover having a seizure to be emotionally tiring should never be underestimated.

"But why my mum?" I was still perplexed about this, though not enough to bring my head up and actually address Hikari herself. I spoke through my hands, muffled, "Of all of the people to finally tell me, it's my mother?"

"Well Ken, we surmised Dai didn't want to interrupt your exam," Hikari replied timidly, fearing another lash-out, "Takeru thought the best way to let you know as soon as the exam had finished was to leave a message at your mum's house so she could go get you when it was over." I looked up and nodded timidly. "He was only thinking of what's best for you." I looked up at the monitor showing Daisuke's face – gorgeous idiot.

"As for what's causing the fever," Hikari spoke up knowledgably, bringing us back on topic, "It seems to be an extreme case of gastroenteritis brought on by food poisoning. Jyou ordered extra fluids. Do you know if he ate anything bad?"

For the first time in forever I had to fight down a laugh. "This is Daisuke we're talking about; of course he ate something bad." Neither Takeru, Hikari or I could fight the giggles that came thick and fast as we imagined Dai eating all manner of meats whether they had green fuzz on them or not. As if on cue, the machine beeped as we came down from our guffawing high – the MRI had finished. It was good to laugh again.

"Ok," I said, puzzled, "if it was just the fever, then why the MRI?"

"Just a precaution to rule out all other eventualities," replied Takeru, a smirk still playing about his lips, "we did an EEG with a flicker test as well to rule out epilepsy and according to this," he paused, scrolling down through the block of scans, "no neural abnormalities. I guess you and Jyou were right Kari – febrile seizure." Hikari smiled in response. However it was a wider smile than we were used to for Hikari being proven right. It wasn't a grin or smirk, it was a genuine smile. For a moment I was confused, though following her line of sight, I saw a gaping hole where there was once a Daisuke. He was yawning widely, obscuring all other facial features.

I grinned. He was surely gonna be ok. I looked to Takeru who gave an encouraging smile, pointing me towards the door. I leaped up from the chair as the panel of the MRI brought Daisuke towards me. Breaking through the glass door, I ran towards Daisuke's limp frame, leant down beside him and grabbed his soft hand. He smiled up at me tiredly. Everything about him was so silky, so delicate and so...non-Dai. Cocking my head, I looked down at him, matching his beautiful face with my perplexed expression as it let out another wide yawn.

Through all the beauty, through all of the tan, through all the tiredness, I could tell...he was in pain. Confusion turned to worry as he scrunched his face up in pain, grabbing his stomach. If there was one place Daisuke was serious about, it was his gut. I knew something was up. However, ever the selfless one, Dai strained a smile.

"Hey you," he forced, "how was the exam?" I laughed – bloody idiot. I could do little but reply.

"Ha, it was ok. I'm me after all, I aced it!" I held up a victory sign, doing my best to smile – I couldn't keep this up for much longer. He giggled, but soon regretted it as he doubled over. Lurching up from the 'bed,' he wrapped his arms around his midriff gingerly. For the umpteenth time that morning, guilt raged through me unadulterated. It was me doing this – all me. If I hadn't made him laugh, if I hadn't had that crappy test, if I had realised what was important, if those dickheads had told me what was going on.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my forearm. I looked into eyes that swam with nothing but sadness and pain. There I was again – selfish bastard – thinking about me. Ironically, by thinking that, I was still doing it. However, digression aside, it didn't take me long to register what happened next.

Daisuke retched over the side of the MRI panel; an almost sarcastic, gentle slapping sound told me that his oesophagus had been successful in dispelling the contents of his stomach. I didn't care however. That may be surprising, but considering I had just removed my hand from Daisuke's hospital robes sporting a maroon gloop on my hand, vomit was the least of my worries. Also, since my strong, vigilant, brave boyfriend was doubled over in pain on the gurney, I was very unconcerned about a little puke.

"Oh God," Hikari stammered, "call a nurse Keru!" It was only vomit Hikari! What's with the pain and the strange goop? Takeru complied nonetheless. What was going on? I thought everything was fine? My tough-ass partner was now grunting readily in pain – fuck me, what did I do to deserve this? He was clutching his torso like there was no tomorrow, practically crying out in pain. He's even forgotten that _I_ was there. Now, not to be arrogant, but that took a fair amount of distraction on Daisuke's part. He always did his best to remember me, the past few hours proved that.

I grabbed on to Daisuke's arm helplessly, trying to force him back onto the bedding. He wouldn't comply. He was a stubborn arse at the best of times. Tears welled at the corners of my eyes as my fruitless attempts to lay him flat went unsuccessful. All of the time one thought was circling my brain, taking the occasional nip at my emotions – What if Jyou is wrong?

"Please Dai," I begged, tearfully, "Stop it please, I need you. Don't do this to me. Fight it, like you told me to – like I did all of those years ago with the spore. Do this for me. I can't go on without you. I need you boy, I need you. I love you."

I looked up at Hikari, pleading. Tears were readily flowing down her face. Not many others would understand. It was just tummy pain. But Dai was so strong, so stubborn, his pain threshold so unbelievably high. He would never let anyone see him like this willingly. The fact that the pain overrode his self control was something none of us had ever seen and I was scared, more scared than I had ever been – big strong Dai had been defeated. My rock had crumbled and my world was on the verge of following suit.

Wait, the issue at hand, what had it been? Oh yes! The vomit and the goop.

I looked up at Hikari – she was tearfully examining the vomit that had desecrated the pristine floor. What was with that? He had food poisoning, of course he was gonna vomit. I tore my eyes away from my love's pained face to seek the object of the female doctor's attention.

My eyes widened in shock. That was no ordinary vomit, it was brown. What the hell was that please? Brown vomit? I looked up at Hikari expectantly. However her eyes were also widened in shock at the goop that covered my outstretched hand. She reacted, reaching out a concurrent hand that pulled back the covers on Dai.

Daisuke, incidentally, retained enough self control to be embarrassed about what he saw he had done under the covers. Crimson-brown liquid covered the sheets. Diarrhoea was embarrassing, unconscious diarrhoea was just unfortunate. Combine that unconscious diarrhoea with blood (what can only be described as full-blown dysentery), bloody vomit and abdominal pain however and we gain something rather worrying.

My anxiety reached new levels that night as events continued to unfold in a snapshot fashion. Takeru burst into the room followed by a bunch of nurses with a stretcher. Daisuke was on the stretcher. Daisuke cried out in pain. Fresh tears fell from my eyes. A new drip was added to Daisuke's arm. Daisuke was wheeled away from me. I was bathed in grief, and for the first time in a long time, I felt alone...

...so very alone.

* * *

Ch 3 done and dusted. Don't forget there will be prizes for guessing the [overall] illness correctly. As for the prize, I will likely send you varying levels of good ju-ju over the internet that are proportional to your correctness - nothing physical of course like alcohol or chocolates (incidentally, most of this was done with a glass of red wine in my hand, I feel more comfortable that way - I swear I'm a middle aged man at heart) but I may, and I stress may, write a fic, for the person who gets the closest, theme obviously of that person's choosing.

If you're nice, R&R and I will get back to you with another chapter and hopefully a few things that are brand-spankingly new...personally, I feel a Jenkato coming on.

S-S


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